The Alpha Heirs’ Prize

CHAPTER 7

I never understood the concept of running for one’s life until I had to do it. I didn’t know just how fast I could run until I had a hoard of warriors running behind me, each silently competing to see who would catch me first.

I could hear my own heartbeat as it padded violently beneath my chest, my throat closing up and my breaths getting extremely hot.

“Don’t let her get away!” I heard someone shout, but I was already sprinting out of their reach and slipping through their fingers; I could tell from how distant they were sounding now.

“If you step out of the borders, you will become a rogue!” Nathan saw it fit to remind me as he chased me and realized that I was going straight for the borders to run away from the pack.

As I got closer, I wondered if it would be worth it – being a rogue. Then, I suddenly recalled that if I stopped and didn’t take the risk of going out, I would be killed anyway.

Better a rogue than dead, I said to myself as I finally crossed the borders. I could hear all of the footsteps that were chasing me stop abruptly as they all got to the lines.

“Now, tell me, Nailea,” Nathan said as he strolled towards the end of the line, staring at me with all of the hate he had to give, “is it worth it? You’re going to die either way. You cannot survive out there as a rogue.”

I shifted back into my human form, staring back at him. I couldn’t bring myself to hate him just yet. Even though I didn’t have a full justification for what he was doing to me, I understood perfectly why he was angry.

“At least I won’t be killed unjustly and blamed for something I didn’t do,” I retorted.

“She identified you in a dark room. A knife was found in your bedroom. You lied, and you were caught in that lie. What other evidence do we need, save for further condemning ones?” he questioned.

I had no answer for that. Whoever had framed me, they had planned everything down to every move I would take in response. I didn’t know if the plan was to get me executed or to make me a rogue, but whatever it was, I had clearly lost.

I took cautious steps backwards, cautious that they would probably step beyond the borders to get me.

“I won’t be coming back,” I announced as I turned my back on them, shifting back to my wolf form and running off.

I didn’t know how far I had run, but when I stopped, my paws had series of blisters that grew even more painful when I shifted back and found a river to drink from.

“Goddess…” I sighed as I drank from the river and washed my face.

I looked around for any sign of potential danger that could be around, finding none. I sat under the shade of a tree, waiting for my blisters to heal, or get less painful at least. My eyes started to pull closed as sleep started to take a hold of me when a sudden movement made me flinch and open them sharply.

“Who are you?” the man in front of me demanded as he pulled a dagger out of its leather pouch, watching me with caution.

I gasped as a group of other men and women surrounded me and stared, waiting for me to give an answer.

“My name is Nailea,” I introduced.

“Get up, nice and slow,” the man, who seemed to be their leader, ordered me.

Without a word, I followed his command, wincing when my feet hit the ground and I felt the blisters bite at me.

“Are you injured?” the leader asked me with raised brows, and I nodded.

“I’ve been running for quite a while now. I have no idea where to go. I really need your help, please,” I said as I looked around and saw the rest of them drawing closer.

“Where are you from?” one of the women asked, putting her dagger back into her pouch and grabbing me by the hand just as the leader tried to stop her.

“She’s a harmless little wolf, Carl,” the woman told the man who was about to separate us as she looked at everyone else who had their weapons drawn, commanding them with a stern “put down your weapons.”

They all followed her command, putting their weapons down, including Carl. I started to second-guess the person I had seen as the leader earlier. Perhaps the leader was the woman standing in front of me.

“I’m Reedah,” she introduced, “and I am not going to ask you this again; where are you from? What are you doing close to our territory?”

“Moonflower pack,” I gave my answer, looking down at the floor in doubt of whether to still consider that place as my home. “I ran away. It’s a long story.”

Reedah examined me for a moment, and she stepped away, beckoning for two of the other men to take me with them.

“We will take her to Alpha Zayn,” she said to them, and I could see the unease in their expressions as they all carried me and started to head to their territory.

Reedah turned to me, a warm and inviting smile on her face as she informed me, “We’re warriors of Silverdome Pack. We’re taking you to our Alpha. You can tell him your story, and he’ll decide what to do with you.”

I followed them without room for argument. I had not heard of Silverdome Pack, but it was understandable as not a lot of us in the pack of Moonflower got the chance to learn anything about other packs.

“Welcome to Silverdome,” Reedah said to me as we stepped into their boundaries, taking me from the hands of the two men who had been holding me, signaling for them to disperse, which they wasted no time in doing.

She led me in silence to the Alpha’s house with Carl trailing behind us, chipping why Reedah was making a mistake every second that he got the chance.

“Alpha Zayn!” Reedah greeted as we got into Alpha Zayn’s throne room, where he sat on a throne, which looked a bit too big for him, and propped his cheek lazily against his open hand as he watched us walk towards him until Reedah and Carl went on one knee, making me go down with them as well.

“We found her sitting under a tree up north. She says her name is Nailea, and she came from Moonflower Pack,” Reedah reported to him.

Alpha Zayn, after silently watching us for a while, used his less busy hand to wave for Reedah and Carl to leave us in privacy. Reedah did as he said immediately, but Carl hesitated for a moment before he finally walked away.

“So, Nailea,” Alpha Zayn started, sitting upright and watching me like a predator would its prey. He no longer exuded the careless charisma I had met him with. He was all authority and power now.

“How did you end up all the way over here from Moonflower? That had to be a long journey. One look at you, and I can tell that you’re running away from something. What is it?”

I looked down at the floor, wondering what to tell him and how to start my pitiful story. Then, I look up at him and say the first thing that came to mind:

“Alpha Marley of Moonflower is dead, and I killed him.”